Mumbai:
They spend their hours away from their families, guarding one of the four locations that was whipped by terror on 26/11 last year.
This is how they were treated. The jawans in charge of protecting the Gateway of India were given no rooms or toilets. They pitched tents here, the monument turning into their only shelter.
(Read: Guarding us without beds, homes)Reports by NDTV and other media led to thoughtless action by the local government, desperate to present a sanitized picture. On Thursday night, the jawans were forced to bring down their tents and made to sleep on the pavement. "We were told to move out in the night... we were told the Navy had a program here... we have been here through the night... now we have been told they will give us a place to stay elsewhere," says one jawan to NDTV, requesting anonymity. (
Read: Jawans forced to sleep on pavement)NDTV and other media reported once again on the jawans' desperate condition on Friday morning. So a shamed government has moved the jawans to a police station nearby. Part of their possessions are loaded into a police van, as they wait for a more permanent roof over their head. "We've made stand-by arrangements at the Colaba Police Chowkie close by. The 20-25 SRPF jawans have been accommodated there. Right now, there are 7-8 people on duty, the rest are there," says Iqbal Sheikh, Assistant Commissioner of Police
After 26/11, over 1500 jawans have been posted across the city to guard vital areas. Local police stations have been turned into their homes, vans into temporary dormitories. A frustrated jawan shares, "We are on duty 24 hours a day. We do not get to go home after an 8 hour shift."